Praktische Landwirt, Der (Periodical)

Der Praktische Landwirt, a periodical published monthly by the Mennonites of South Russia. It was proposed on 11 October 1922, by a Mennonite confer­ence in the Alt Samara settlement, but it was not established until three years later. The conference chose a committee to found an association for the purpose of promoting the re-establishment of Mennonite agriculture and related industries in close co­operation with existing German agricultural organ­izations and the authorities, and of serving the neighboring populace. They cited the precedent of the Alexandertal seed co-operative as an example of what a Mennonite organization was able to achieve even without state funds (Praktischer Landwirt, 1926, No. 12, p. 2). The efforts to form a closer as­sociation led to the founding of the All-Russian Mennonite Agricultural Association with its seat at Moscow. As the organ of the organization Der Praktische Landwirt was called into being with P. F. Froese as editor, a valuable specialized journal, which gave the German farmers practical sugges­tions for successful management, and also published statistics on the Mennonite settlements in Russia. The first number appeared on 15 May 1925. The office of censorship put difficulties in the way of pub­lication, so that the journal had to cease with its December number in 1926. A complete file is found in Mennonite Historical Library (Goshen, Indiana), except for the first two numbers.